Between Fire and Ice
by Usagi Youkai
Summary: Ron has a crush on his best friend, Draco finds his enemy attractive. What happens when they have to compete for Harry? DracoHarryRon, HarryRon, HarryDraco


I've been dwelling on this for a while now because this is one of the few love triangles I like, Draco/Harry/Ron; Harry as seme for both pairings. I've seen a lot of Ron/Harry, and really, Ron is too uke, as well as Draco. I've had this chapter done for a while now and I decided to post it because it's been collecting dust. _-sighs-_ I'm going to have to update this one with the others if people like it enough.

**Warnings:** Love triangle; Draco/Harry/Ron, who is going to end up with Harry, even I'm not sure yet. Yaoi; male/male relationships. If you don't like Slash/Yaoi, I've warned you now about it, so don't even bother me about the subject.

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Hermione had noticed it not too long ago, in fact, she was sure she realized it before any of the boys did. Ron, Harry and she were in the library because she'd dragged them both there; they had a Charms essay and she wanted the boys to write their own instead of copying hers. Her own essay was rolled up in her trunk in her dormitory ready to be shown to Professor Flitwick.

Hermione had turned the next page in the book she had started to read while there, sitting across from her two Gryffindor companions, who sat side by side, books open and writing similar but different essays. She glanced up at them and then quirked a brown eyebrow at the two; her eyes lingering on the scene instead of her book for once. Harry was shoulder to shoulder with Ron, pointing out a line on the red head's paper that he identified as illegible. It wasn't hard to miss Ron's blush as they touched, his ears got red and his cheeks and across the bridge of his nose soon followed suit. Could the reaction really be from Harry leaning in on his personal space? She wasn't sure.

The moment was interrupted by Harry getting thudded on the head with a well sized book, making the black haired teen flinch and spin around to see who had done it. Hermione was not surprised to see Draco Malfoy walking away from Harry and by passing Ron, who also looked up to see what had disturbed Harry's contact with him. Harry and Ron both glared at Draco as he left, and, Hermione was a bit shocked to see, Draco winked in Harry's direction, a confident smile on his face before he looked away and returned to a group of Slytherins, who were snickering at Draco's ambush.

Hermione made a mental note of this occasion; it was very out of the ordinary to see Draco give a look like that, she could see it was a different smugness and confidence, it was nearly... teasing, is the word that came to mind. He was taunting Harry with a glimmer in his eye that the black haired teen may have or may not have seen; it was hard to tell because he'd focused on glaring at Draco. Glancing back at Ron she found he was particularly sour as he turned back to his essay and Harry's eyes lingered on Draco before turning back to his own parchment, too angry to help Ron again with his essay, the peace thoroughly disturbed. Ron stared at his parchment for a good while before attempting to continue without Harry.

Hermione was sure that had killed a delicate balance of something between the three of them, but none of the boys seemed to fully comprehend it all. She prided herself with her good memory and sophisticated observation skills; she loved to learn, and right then she suddenly wanted to learn about what was going on between her friends and Draco. She decided to keep a closer eye on her friends and Draco; she had a feeling something was going to happen between them. She hummed softly and returned to her book; mind storing the mental note for later.

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Ron huffed angrily as they left the library, "Malfoy can't leave us alone for one bloody day, can he?"

"Apparently not," Hermione murmured, following the two out of the room full of shelves and books, "But I doubt that little distraction was the reason you didn't finish your essay." Ron blinked once and his face turned a rosy red.

"I'll finish it later," he said and Hermione huffed, annoyed that Ron didn't finish his essay promptly like she had. Even Harry had finished his; with a bit of Hermione's help with the conclusion at the end.

Ron made an annoyed face and looked at the floor as they walked. He was sure if Draco hadn't interrupted Harry, he would have finished. The rest of the time he'd been fuming about it; he hated it when Malfoy interrupted them, and he always did it when he and Harry were close, it made his blood boil in anger.

Hating Draco was nothing new, Ron had hated the blonde the first time they met; the snooty identification by his hair and hand me down items had caused first dislike, but when Draco had attempted to woo Harry into becoming allies, that moment had spawned the hate. They'd only been 11 back then, but even 4 years ago he felt something more than friendship with Harry. He never acted on it though; he didn't dare to ruin the best friendship he'd ever had, not again, not after last year at the Tri-wizard Tournament. That time away from Harry had been hard enough; he didn't want to think of what would happen if he lost him for the rest of his life.

"Well it's going to be hard to get it done by Monday," Harry commented, Ron's attention immediately turning to his friend, "Quidditch practice you know, and Angelina isn't cutting us a break." Ron groaned, both mentally and physically.

"We won last game; I say she should lie off." He said and Harry nodded sympathetically, knowing that particular game had been difficult for Ron to get through. His first game as Keeper and he'd flunked horribly. Harry laid a hand on Ron's shoulder, in a silent understanding of the case. Ron was warmed by the gestured and smiled some, really unable to stay sour too long. Hermione smiled in the background and watched the quiet, yet loud display of affection.

Ron didn't get to enjoy it for two long though, for he was pushed away and bumped away by someone else and he nearly smacked his head against the stone wall. His head whipped around to see none other than Draco Malfoy right where he'd been, now next to a stunned Harry.

"Whoops," Draco said sarcastically, smirking at Ron, "I didn't see you there Weasley, _sorry,_" the sad excuse for an apology was clipped off at the end sharply before his grey eyes landed on Harry, who was not enjoying the Slytherins presence just as much as Ron was. Draco's arrogant face softened into what they all were shocked to see it was something that was pleasant and dare they say it, welcoming. "Another time, Potter." And then he turned and continued on his way, leaving Harry with a suggestive look in his eye. Harry was very stunned by the whole event, but never the less was charmed, even if it was only a little bit. He felt color rise into his face from the look Draco gave him; it was both a pleasant and unpleasant feeling.

"If I'm not mistaken," Hermione cut through the thick tension with her words, able to speak reasonably and be shocked at the same time, "Malfoy just flirted with you, Harry." Harry opened his mouth to deny the statement, but nothing came out, because he'd seen it with his own eyes. Ron glared after Draco, even after the Slytherin was long gone. He couldn't believe the blonde had done that; and he was partly angry with himself for not doing it first, but he was too afraid of ruining what they had. He scowled and folded his arms.

"Uh..." Harry stumbled at first to find words to get off this uncomfortable subject, "Let's just go back to the common room." He started walking again and Ron quickly followed him, a little worried about Harry's reaction. Wasn't Harry disgusted with Draco's flirting? Or could it be that Harry actually found the Slytherin attractive? He mentally grimaced at the thought. At least he found it disgusting. Hermione followed them quietly, partly annoyed that Harry was having such a reaction to Draco. It wasn't that she wanted Harry to be disgusted by it; she just wanted his whole opinion on the homosexual attraction, because she was starting to see the tug of war between Draco and Ron.

"There's a trip to Hogsmeade soon." She mentioned to ease their mind of Draco Malfoy. "Are we going?"

"Yeah," Harry said, "We need the time away from the castle." Ron nodded in agreement, both of them eager to get farther away from Draco, for different reasons.

"You have to finish your essay first Ron." Hermione said lowly and Ron gave her an annoyed look.

"Hermione, you're not my mum..."

"I know you're going to not do it if you go to Hogsmeade first." She said firmly and Ron closed his mouth, frowning and shoving his hands in his pockets. Hermione was satisfied that she'd won out on the argument. Harry just sighed; he didn't like it when his friends fought, but he tolerated it. Harry patted his red headed friend's back and Ron seemed to cheer up a bit as they headed back towards Gryffindor Tower.

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Tell me what you think


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